Rebekah Brooks: 5 Things to Know

The former News of the World chief was once the youngest editor of any national British newspaper.

Former editor of News of the WorldRebekah Brooks was arrested Sunday in connection with the phone-hacking scandal. She joined the News of the World publication in 1989, quickly rising in the ranks at both the News of the World and the Sun. She became the youngest editor of a national British newspaper in 2000 when she took the helm at News of the World.

What else should you know about Rupert Murdoch’s former British CEO? Here are five things:

1. Brooks decided she wanted to be a journalist at age 14. She speaks fluent French, which she used at her first job at Architecture Aujourd'hui in Paris.

2. Rebekah Brooks became deputy editor of the Sun in 1998 at the age of 30. She fought against the tabloid’s page three feature, which showcased topless women, saying it deterred the publication from attracting more female readers. When she became the first female editor of the Sun in 2003, however, she surprised critics when she did not end the daily feature.

3. In 2005, Brooks (then still going by her maiden name, Rebecca Wade) missed the 50th Women of the Year Lunch when she was arrested for allegedly assaulting her actor husband Ross Kemp. She was held for eight hours, but charges were never filed. They separated in 2006, and officially divorced in 2009. She took her second husband’s last name when she married author Charlie Brooks in 2009.

4. At News of the World, Brooks established an anti-pedophilia campaign which printed names and photographs of known pedophiles. She claimed it was done to protect innocent children and push through a law allowing parents of young children to be notified when a convicted sex offender moved into their neighborhoos. “We at the paper are on the side of protecting children and not the rights of paedophiles and I strongly believe we're on the side of the right,” Brooks said during an interview on BBC Breakfast with Frost.

5. Brooks is extremely close to Rupert Murdoch, and is often called is “adopted daughter.” She is known for socializing with a group of high-profile people, including PR mogul Matthew Freud, his wife (and Rupert’s daughter) Elizabeth Murdoch, Rupert’s daughter, Prime Minister David Cameron and Emily Oppenheimer Turner, of the De Beers diamond dynasty. She also attended the Prince of Wales’ 50th birthday party.